Andrew MacKay | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Bracknell East Berkshire (1983-1997) | |
| Assumed office 9 June 1983 | |
| Preceded by | new constituency |
| Majority | 12,036 (23.5%) |
| Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford | |
| In office 31 March 1977 – 3 May 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Roy Jenkins |
| Succeeded by | Terry Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 August 1949 Birmingham |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Julie Kirkbride Diana Joy Kinchin (div. 1996) |
Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949, Birmingham) is a British Conservative Party politician, and currently the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bracknell in Berkshire.
He attended Solihull School, an independent school in Solihull, West Midlands. He has worked as an estate agent and company director.
Mackay first entered parliament in 1977, after winning the Birmingham Stechford by-election. He lost the seat at the 1979 general election, but re-entered parliament in 1983 as MP for East Berkshire.
He was deputy Chief Whip under John Major, and was shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1997 to September 2001 during the leadership of William Hague. He has remained on the backbenches since but was appointed a Conservative Deputy Chairman in September 2004 with responsibility for candidates, and upon the election of David Cameron in November 2005 moved to become a Senior Parliamentary & Political Adviser to the new Conservative leader.
On May 14th, 2009, he resigned from his position as parliamentary aide to David Cameron, in the wake of the furore over Parliamentary expenses after what was described as an "unacceptable" expenses claim.[1]
MacKay and Kirkbride own two homes, one in her constituency of Bromsgrove, and a flat close to Parliament in Westminster. In a case of so called "double-dipping," according to the Daily Telegraph, Mackay had used his Additional Costs Allowance to claim more than £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments on their joint Westminster flat. His wife Kirkbrde used her Additional Costs Allowance to claim over £900 a month on paying off the mortgage for their family home near her constituency. This means they effectively had no main home but two second homes – and were using public funds to pay for both of them. In 2008/9, MacKay claimed a total of £23,083 under Additional Costs Allowance, while Kirkbride claims £22,575. They also claimed for each other's travel costs, with Kirkbride claiming £1,392 to meet spouse travel, while MacKay claimed £408.[2]
In interview with Matthew Amroliwala on BBC News the following morning, Mackay apologised for his error of judgement. In what he claimed was an agreed procedure with the Parliamentary Claims office, he had designated their Westminster home as his secondary home, while Kirkbride has designated the Bromsgrove house as her second home. MacKay announced that the procedure had been ongoing for eight or nine years, and that he would be repaying the monies after taking advice from the Conservatives scrutiny committee.
In 1974 MacKay married Diana Joy Kinchin and they had two children, Hamish and Georgina. They divorced in 1996. In August 1997 MacKay married Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP for the constituency of Bromsgrove. The couple have a son Angus Robert (born October 2000).